US to boost Myanmar trade, investment

The US is considering broadening trade with Myanmar by waiving import duties on locally produced goods, Acting US Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis was quoted by local media as saying during his four-trip to the Southeast Asian country.

Under a US programme designed to help impoverished nations, the US could extend broad duty-free access to the US market by year-end for Myanmar goods, including agricultural products, handicrafts and some garments.

During an address to students and business leaders in Yangon on April 26, Marantis said the US was also seeking new avenues of investment into Myanmar, namely in sectors that would directly improve the lives of disadvantaged people.

Marantis recognised Myanmar’s market liberalisation effort as a major reason the US is now seeking to deepen ties with the former military dictatorship.

The Myanmar visit reflects “the great interest that we’re hearing from stakeholders back in the US about that market,” Bloomberg quoted Marantis.

The new focus by the US could mean a serious shift in policy and dropping of restrictions for a market that is already largely absorbed by China, increasingly showing a Japanese presence, and has the EU moving fast to tighten trade and investment relations.

US investment in Myanmar amounted to $243.56 million in 15 projects, accounting for merely 0.58 per cent of the total as of February 2013 since Myanmar opened to such investment in late 1988, according to Myanmar state statistics.

Bilateral trade between Myanmar and the US reached $190.96 million in 2012, of which Myanmar’s exports to the US accounted for $16.47 while its imports stood at $174.49 million.

The US is considering broadening trade with Myanmar by waiving import duties on locally produced goods, Acting US Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis was quoted by local media as saying during his four-trip to the Southeast Asian country.

Under a US programme designed to help impoverished nations, the US could extend broad duty-free access to the US market by year-end for Myanmar goods, including agricultural products, handicrafts and some garments.

During an address to students and business leaders in Yangon on April 26, Marantis said the US was also seeking new avenues of investment into Myanmar, namely in sectors that would directly improve the lives of disadvantaged people.

Marantis recognised Myanmar’s market liberalisation effort as a major reason the US is now seeking to deepen ties with the former military dictatorship.

The Myanmar visit reflects “the great interest that we’re hearing from stakeholders back in the US about that market,” Bloomberg quoted Marantis.

The new focus by the US could mean a serious shift in policy and dropping of restrictions for a market that is already largely absorbed by China, increasingly showing a Japanese presence, and has the EU moving fast to tighten trade and investment relations.

US investment in Myanmar amounted to $243.56 million in 15 projects, accounting for merely 0.58 per cent of the total as of February 2013 since Myanmar opened to such investment in late 1988, according to Myanmar state statistics.

Bilateral trade between Myanmar and the US reached $190.96 million in 2012, of which Myanmar’s exports to the US accounted for $16.47 while its imports stood at $174.49 million.